A new kidney-transplant program at Phoenix's St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center recently became the fifth one in the state.

Program officials say it's one more option for patients waiting for the most-needed transplant organ in the world.

"This just gives one more pathway or opportunity for the patient to get through a system so they're not waiting six to eight weeks before they get a callback," said Brandi Krushelniski, transplant administrator.

Since opening five weeks ago, several dozen doctors have referred patients to the program, Krushelniski said.

Program administrators said they expect to have their first two patients listed in the coming weeks, and to perform their first transplant before the end of the summer.

About 2,400 people in Arizona are waiting for organ transplants, according to the Donor Network of Arizona. Of those, 2,000 are waiting for kidneys.

Since the beginning of 2014, surgeons have performed at least 79 deceased-donation kidney transplants in Arizona.

A growing need

The program was two years in the making, Krushelniski said.

Patty White, St. Joseph's CEO and president, said implementing a kidney-transplant service was the next step after launching the hospital's lung-transplant program seven years ago. The lung program provided much of the infrastructure needed for a kidney program.

"We really felt that we were so well-positioned, and it really validated our position as a leader in medical care in the community and really in the region," White said. "Really, there was very little doubt that this was the next step in transplantation that we wanted to take."

The program's development, Krushelniski said, began with assessing the need for another kidney-transplant center.

As a transplant director in California, Krushelniski noticed the large volume of lung-transplant patients coming west to get transplants.

In the years following, a need grew for more kidney-transplant centers, too.

"Even though there are other centers in the Valley, we felt that there was still a need for patients to have a place to go to be able to receive their transplants," she said. "So that's where it really started for us was the community need and what could we do in the community to better serve our patients."

The next step, Krushelniski said, was the application process through the United Network for Organ Sharing, a non-profit organization federally contracted to manage organ donations across the country.

St. Joseph's filed its application in November 2013, and the hospital began taking referrals in April.

St. Joseph's was required to show it had the skill set on its staff to manage the program, including surgeons, registered nurse coordinators, support staff and a nephrologist — a doctor specialized in diagnosing and treating kidney disease. The program also called for separate finance personnel and after-care staff, such as dietitians and social workers.

"It takes a village to do organ transplants," Krushelniski said.

The hospital designated 5,000 square feet for the new program, which included clinic and office space, four operating rooms and six rooms for aftercare. Administration led several mock transplant trial runs before opening the program.

Krushelniski added that further remodeling for the hospital is in the works, with the goal to house all transplant services in the same area. They have not finalized a timeline for that project, she added.

The start-up costs, she said, were between $1 million and $3 million.

Jacqueline Keidel, spokeswoman for the Donor Network of Arizona, said that having one more option for kidney patients in the state was crucial. The kidney, she added, is the most-needed organ among donors worldwide.

"It's an opportunity for people who are already patients at St. Joseph's," she said. "They don't have to leave and look elsewhere for care if they have a doctor there that they've really come to trust."

But the new program, Keidel added, doesn't solve all the Valley's problems when it comes to kidney transplants. The underlying issue, she added, is the shortage of organs.

"It's great to have that extra capacity for kidney transplants," she said. "But those transplants aren't possible in the first place unless more people are registered as donors."